A tomb in the WWI Chinese cemetery at Noyelles-sur-Mer
Since 1919, the number of Chinese in France was slightly bolstered by an influx of students (including Zhou Enlai,[8] who would later become the Premier of the People’s Republic of China and Deng Xiaoping,[8] later de facto leader of China), who would play a crucial leadership role in organising community institutions for the Chinese there.[9] The few thousand who remained formed the first rooted Chinese community in Paris, based first around the Gare de Lyon in the east of the capital, then near the Arts et métiers metro station in the 3rd arrondissement.[10]
In the 1930s and 1940s, Chinese from Wenzhou settled in Paris (as well as in many other European cities such as Madrid, Frankfurt, Florence, Milan). They worked as leatherworkers near the Jewish neighborhood in the 3rd arrondissement and setting up sundries and mini-markets. Taking over the wholesale trade lost by the Jews during the German occupation of France during World War II, the Chinese community still exists today, but remains relatively discreet